Welcome to the Masqueradepart one
by Airon Pegasus
Summary: When Rainbow Dash Has a nightmare, Twilight is determined to prove it wrong. She and the rest of her friends are quites surprised to find out that Rainbow Dash really did have something to worry about. Please enjoy!


Pinkie Pie stood staring at the window into Twilight's lab in the library. She was measuring an odd green liquid in with a soft white powder. Pinkie Pie wasn't truly all that interested in what was happening, but she wanted to spend time with Twilight, even though she had to be behind the window for her own safety.

Twilight dripped other liquids into the combination she had and took notes as it changed color. Pinkie Pie ogled at the mixture when Twilight held it up in the light. The liquid had turned into a dark brown color with mysterious streaks of white running through. Twilight frowned and tossed the vial aside. Pinkie Pie looked heart-broken.

She suddenly forced her way inside and demanded to know why Twilight had thrown away her potion.

Twilight casually responded, "Oh, it's not a potion. I'm testing the scientific genealogy of Airon to other pegasi. So far, I've only messed up in the gel electrophoresis and the DNA keeps getting smudged. But, I am not discouraged. If Airon truly is the descendant of the first pegasus ever, then at least one gene from each DNA fingerprint should coincide between the control groups!"

Pinkie Pie was nodding off slightly. She was never one to pay close attention to scientific things like this. Twilight turned around to see Pinkie Pie sleeping on the floor and gently levitated her out the door. Pinkie Pie was suddenly awoken by an explosion from within the lab. She looked through the window to nothing but a thick cloud of black smoke. "Alright, well you seem to have things under control here. I'll just be on my way."

A while later, she found Rainbow Dash zooming through clouds overhead. She was clearing the sky. Pinkie Pie smiled and shouted up to her friend. "Hey Rainbow Dash, I thought it was supposed to rain today!"

Rainbow Dash stopped and looked down at Pinkie Pie, her face was stern, almost frightened-looking. "Not today Pinkie Pie."

She was about to turn and fly away, but Pinkie Pie bounced up in front of her on the other side. "Why not?"

"Be-because I had~…" she mumbled quietly at the end of her sentence.

Pinkie Pie leaned closer, "What was that?"

Rainbow Dash crossed her hooves nervously and stared at the ground. "I said… I had a~…" she trailed off again.

Pinkie Pie was standing only on her front hooves toward Rainbow Dash trying to get closer. "One more time?"

Rainbow Dash lifted her head at Pinkie Pie finally and shouted "I HAD A NIGHTMARE!" She quickly covered her muzzle, thinking it was an embarrassment to admit that she had bad dreams. The shout however, had knocked Pinkie Pie off her hooves.

After a second on the ground, she was miraculously standing again, without having noticeably gotten herself up. "Well that's not a problem," Pinkie Pie swung a hoof around Rainbow Dash's neck, pulling her down to the ground, "Why dontchya tell me about it?"

Rainbow Dash hesitated, then she sighed; "Alright Pinkie Pie. There's not much, but the majority of it is just me. I'm flying around in a forest and I don't know where, when I see this haywire storm cloud pouring on top of this little monkey fellow. I can't see what he's doing, just sitting I guess. I rush over and bust through the cloud so it stops raining, but it just comes back. I keep forcing it away, but it just keeps floating back to the monkey guy. For some reason, I started freaking out about it, like I had no control!" Throughout the entire story she was moving around, flinging her arms this way and that, trying to imitate her struggles with the uncooperative storm cloud.

Pinkie Pie just sat listening with a serious face, a hoof under her chin like she was thinking. "I think I see the problem," she exclaimed suddenly after Rainbow Dash finished.

Rainbow Dash got excited,"You do?"

"Absolutely," Pinkie Pie swung a hoof through the air as if it were obvious, "the problem is, that you sleep too much!" Pinkie Pie grinned, but Rainbow Dash lost her hopeful smile. "With all those naps you take, the dreamy part of you brain is running out of ideas for your dreams."

"But that doesn't explain why I feel so worried," Rainbow Dash scolded, "I don't understand! I never worry, nothing worries Rainbow Dash!" She put on a triumphant smile when suddenly, another pegasus flying overhead accidentally bumped into a storm cloud and it cracked with lightning, frightening Rainbow Dash into a bush.

Pinkie Pie looked over at the shivering shrub as the pegasus in the air apologized. Rainbow Dash peeked out, looking around for the storm cloud that caught her off-guard. The other pegasus had already flown off with it.

She then fluttered out, looking rather ashamed of the embarrassing mishap. Usually she was the one who scared ponies with storm clouds. She looked back at Pinkie Pie, who was trying not to laugh at the unprecedented reaction of her pegasus friend.

"What's the explanation for that?" Rainbow Dash asked Pinkie Pie, "Every-pony knows me for being fearless! And if I'm afraid of a little rain, then I can't be a proper Pegasus."

Pinkie Pie sat down next to her discouraged friend. "Well," she began, "you said that in the dream you were flying over a forest?"

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash answered, "but I don't know where. It's completely uncharted land!"

"Then maybe it's part of the Everfree Forest!" Pinkie Pie said enthusiastically, "All you have to do is stay away from the Everfree Forest! Because the clouds in there are uncontrolled, so it makes sense that you had a dream about not being able to control a cloud in the Everfree Forest."

Rainbow Dash straightened up at that, "You think so?"

"Absolutely," replied Pinkie Pie with another hoof wave, "It all adds up!"

"You're right," Rainbow Dash stood triumphantly, "Now, I'd better go get some more clouds for the rain forecast today," she said before zooming into the air. It wasn't long before she ran into another stray storm cloud, causing it to crack another burst of lightning. Rainbow Dash was frightened back down to earth next to Pinkie Pie. "Or maybe I should go talk to Twilight."

Some time later, Rainbow Dash was lying on a sofa in the library while Twilight Sparkle sat in a chair with a quill and notepad to take notes about Rainbow Dash's dream. She told Twilight everything she had told Pinkie Pie earlier that morning, and when she was done, she got the same result.

"My conclusion, you sleep too much," Twilight reported, looking at her notes, "With all those naps you take, your subconscious is out of memories and ideas for it to give you a decent dream."

Rainbow Dash sat up and gave her an odd stare. "Have you been talking to Pinkie Pie?" She demanded.

"Not recently," Twilight said, "She was here this morning, but only to watch my experiment. Nothing about this."

"Oh, well that's pretty much what she said, too," Rainbow Dash laid back again, "but a lot less sciencey."

"Well it does make sense," Twilight took another look at her notes, "If you truly believe it has substantial value, I would say stay away from the Everfree Forest. Considering the rain there isn't controlled by pegasi-"

"Are you serious!?" Rainbow Dash cut her off, jumping from her seat and getting right in Twilight's face. "That's exactly what Pinkie Pie said!"

"Well that certainly is fortuitous," Twilight grinned nervously, "but I can assure you I haven't seen her since this morning."

Rainbow Dash sat back down, "Fine. I'll stay out of the Everfree Forest." She was about to fly out the door when thunder boomed outside. It had started raining. "Uumm, Twilight? Is it alright if I stay here tonight?"

Twilight understood Rainbow Dash's fear and agreed. They didn't speak for the rest of the night, though.

The next morning, Rainbow Dash left early. She wanted to fly away before any-pony had the chance to talk to her, but was still caught by Airon. He was out on his daily excercise fly when they almost crashed into each other.

"Rainbow Dash?" He questioned her sudden appearance, "What are you doing out at this hour?"

Rainbow Dash tried not to blush, she would obviously have to tell him about her dream, but still decided to do her best to avoid it, "Uh, well...When you told me about the proper way to stretch and excercise, I figured it was a good idea to keep myself in good condition!" She smiled nervously.

He gave her an odd look, "That was weeks ago, back when I just arrived in Ponyville."

"Yeah well...It takes a while for me to actually get motivated."

"Alright, well if you need any tips on good habits in the future, I'll be around."

"Sure thing, thanks," Rainbow Dash saluted quickly and dashed away. She didn't stop until she was comfortable in her home in Cloudsdale.

Airon decided to go visit Twilight after his morning laps. She was preparing a saddle bag with candle sticks and food.

Airon knocked on the door after seeing her preparations through the window. She let him in and he asked what she was doing.

"I'm about to go on a journey into the Everfree Forest to see what kind of things are there," she responded politely, not quite lying, but not telling the whole truth.

Airon cocked his head sideways, confused. "Would it have anything to do with Rainbow Dash?" He asked politely, remembering how Dash was in such a hurry earlier.

"Actually, yes," Twilight admitted, "She had a nightmare involving rain in the Everfree Forest. I told her to avoid the forest for a while, but I intend on finding out what's inside it that would give her nightmares."

Airon stepped in front of her before she left, "I'm going too."

She looked at him. For as long as she knew him, she knew that she would not be able to talk him out of it. "Alright, sure. Hurry up and grab what you need, but don't tell Rainbow Dash."

He smiled, thanked her, and flew out of the building.

Twilight waited at the edge of the Everfree Forest for him. She didn't have to wait long.

He came flying down in his full suit of armor, with Fluttershy following. "Well," Twilight said as they landed, "At least you didn't tell Rainbow Dash, right?"

"Don't worry," Airon affirmed, "Fluttershy just walked in on me getting ready," Fluttershy blushed a bit when he said that, "so I told her the story and she insisted on coming along."

"And I hope you don't mind," Fluttershy added, "but I also told the others." She turned around and Twilight saw her other friends walking up. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity. Not Rainbow Dash, good.

"That's fine," Twilight replied, "as long as you all are prepared for what might happen."

Fluttershy shrank slightly when Twilight said that, but Airon reassured her. They were all willing and able, so they departed into the forest.

After a while, Rarity began complaining. Every-pony did there best to ignore her as she rambled on about how she forgot her bug spray.

Airon had never ventured through the Everfree Forest leisurely before. He enjoyed the massive trees and varieties of flowers. He also noted all the menacing-looking thistle branches, and strange plants that he guessed were poisonous.

Twilight led them all along a specific route, though not a marked trail. She did her best to steer clear of the dangerous plants that she knew about as well as many that she didn't recognize, simply because she didn't want to risk any problems.

They wandered around for some time, and just before Rarity got into a story of the time she lost her favourite hat on a train ride, Airon stopped her. He intended to simply ask for her to stop all of her mindless banter, but once she actually took a break for a second he began to hear something. He silenced her again and tried to listen closer.

Music? He leaned toward a tangled assortment of spiked vines for a closer listen. Twilight perked an ear toward it, too, "I can hear it. It sounds like, a music box?" She cocked an eyebrow in confusion.

"I thought so too," Airon stated solemnly, "but I'm not entirely sure."

Airon stepped out of the way and Twilight came up to cast a spell on the vines, causing them to retreat into the trees. The six of them stepped through cautiously in single file, following the sound of the music.

When they emerged in the grotto on the other side, they almost couldn't comprehend. They saw a little baboon, not very old, sitting on a stump which had a slab of wood still on the back that made it look like a large wooden throne.

Anyway, the baby baboon sat in the middle of the stump cranking a lever on a little music box in front of him. His eyes were closed, so he looked like he was sleeping.

Twilight stepped forward to speak to him, "Hello there," she said all sing-song, thinking it was necessary to since he was a child. After a few seconds with no response she continued speaking, "My name is Twilight Sparkle and, well our friend knew about you so we came looking. What is it you're doing out here?"

The little creature just sat, smiling like he was having a pleasant dream, cranking the handle on his music box. The repetition of the music was starting to get on every-pony's nerves, but they did their best not to show displeasure.

Airon stepped forward and spoke to the baboon child in his intimate military tone, "Now listen closely son, we are not here to hurt you. We simply have suspicions about something threatening residing around here somewhere and wish to pit a stop to it for our friend's sake. If you know anything about what we might be looking for we ask that you divulge the information and allow us to be on our way."

Once he stopped talking, the smile on the baboon's face slowly shrank away. He stopped cranking for a second and Applejack noticed multiple other primates gathering among the trees. Fluttershy noticed them as well and cowered behind Airon. Twilight backed away from the tree stump-throne thinking this child found them annoying and wanted them to leave.

Suddenly the monkey started cranking the music box backwards. It clicked eerily as the handle was forced to move counter-clockwise against the setting of the mechanisms inside. The ponies slightly panicked at the change of tone as the music box played the song backwards. The sound was majorly discomforting, Rarity seemed most bothered.

She complained about the minor chords as the song played in reverse, but Twilight worried it was something more than just a bothersome scale. She focused on a protection spell and her horn glowed. The apes in the trees shifted silently along with the music, making the scene that much more ominous. Each of Twilight's friends took after her example and prepared for a fight.

What happened next was beyond what any of them would have expected. As the ponies readied themselves for the worst, Rarity felt something drip onto her nose. Her first thought was that one of the baboons in the trees was sweating profusely and she was sickened. Then she looked up. Past the congress of baboons was an intimidating black storm cloud. Before she could say anything, it poured. Each of the ponies was drenched within seconds. Twilight grumbled and turned to walk away.

"Is that it then?" Applejack called to her, "You're turning away because of some rain?"

"Rain is the only reason we came out here," she reminded her friend, "and if that's all the monkey's music box does then we can tell Rainbow Dash she has nothing to worry about."

They all agreed and walked away with her. None of them looked back, and the little baby baboon sat grinning in his seat.

It grew dark as they drew nearer to Ponyville. Pinkie Pie wondered how long they had been away, but didn't speak up about it. They all returned to the buildings in which they slept; it's hard to say they all went home considering Airon had to stay at an Inn. But they all slept soundly for the night, and strangely, no-pony had told Rainbow Dash about the encounter with the baboons. They would have a hard time anyway, since she was nowhere to be found.


End file.
